Bye bye Mexican Pie

by Geoff Edwards

Did you know that years ago, “Have a nice day” and the smiley were generated out of a California advertising agency? Almost as ubiquitous is “Mexican Riviera”. I have no idea where that tag came from, but it set up the whole area of Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Ensenada. They are visited by thousands of cruisers every year, but change is in the wind.

Royal Caribbean’s 3,114-passenger, Los Angeles-based Mariner, the largest cruise ship operating Mexican Riviera itineraries, will move to the Mediterranean beginning in January. It’s the third cruise line to give up on the in the last seven months.

Norwegian Cruise Line announced in March that the 2,240-passenger Norwegian Star would move to Tampa in October 2011, and Carnival’s Elation

has already moved to Mobile and is happy in the Caribbean.

How bad can it get? Well, badder. Princess says that when potential passengers see “Mexican Riviera” on the visit list, they look for other itineraries. Seeing the empty cabin future, pretty soon Princess’s Panama Canal trips will completely bypass Mexico.

Count on an extra day at sea.

This is bad news for Mexican merchants, but good news to shoppers; the fewer the buyers the easier the bargaining.

Cabo will take a huge hit.

Will all cruises to Mexico cease? We’ll see, but if you want to be sure you get to the Riviera ports, do it in style. Crystal’s Symphony is making three 7 day round trips from Los Angeles to Cabo, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. The first goes November 21. and everyone on shore will be happy to see you!!